Notre Dame protest was rude, ill-timed

On May 2 at the Notre Dame Commencement, several students walked out as Vice President Pence was introduced. Their walkout was a protest of the Trump/Pence administration's policies with regard to the marginalized communities of our society.

I understand there are many reasons for this walkout. Some of the policies Pence supported were anti-immigrants, anti-LGBT, anti-low income and anti-people of color.

While I recognize the students' right to a silent protest, I personally find this action rude at this time and place. Additionally, I would like to address a facet of the immigration issue that the protesters may not have considered.

There was recent news report on the Science Magazine article "Displaced American STEM Workers Spur Senate Hearing," published on March 3, 2016. In a nutshell the article states that when companies are in need of skilled workers the employers are allowed to hire skilled foreign workers under H-1B Skilled Guest Workers Visas. Furthermore the article goes on to state that an American employee "learned that his job would end in 90 days and that, to receive severance pay, he would have to spend his remaining time with the company training his replacement."

I wonder how these protesting students would feel if they were the American worker being displaced. In addition, how will these students feel when they do enter the job market and find that the jobs they want are filled with H-1B workers.

Robert Napora

Huntley